Belarus said Wednesday it will practice deployment of Russia's nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles during the joint Zapad-2025 ("West-2025") drills close to the EU and NATO's eastern flank border.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is a key Russian ally and depends on the large eastern neighbour economically and militarily.
It also allowed its territory to be used as a staging post for Moscow's 2022 offensive in Ukraine.
Kyiv, as well as Poland and the Baltic states, have repeatedly sounded alarm over military build-ups in Belarus, where Russia said it would deploy Oreshnik by the end of the year.
"Of course, we will work out the plan for using this type of weaponry together with our Russian colleagues," Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin said asked if the Zapad drills would include the use of Oreshnik.
In late 2024, Russia used the Ukrainian city of Dnipro as a testing ground for its "experimental" Oreshnik missile without a nuclear warhead.
"We see the situation on our western and northern borders and can't just sit and watch the militarisation and military activity there," Khrenin was quoted as saying by Belta news agency.
Russian state media earlier reported around 13,000 soldiers were originally set to take part in the drills, but the final number of participants was not revealed yet.
The Zapad-2025 military drills, due on September 12-16, usually involve tens of thousands of troops in a show of force close to Belarus's western border with EU and NATO members.
Around 200,000 troops participated in the 2021 edition of Zapad, staged just months before Moscow's assault of Ukraine.
